lead dioxide cell

Journal of Power Sources 217 (2012) 193e198

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Short communication

Electrochemical characteristics of rechargeable polyaniline/lead dioxide cell b  Branimir N. Grgur a, *, Aleksandar Zeradjanin , Milica M. Gvozdenovi c a, Miodrag D. Maksimovi c a, c c c Tomislav Lj. Trisovi c , Branimir Z. Jugovi a

Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11020 Belgrade, Serbia Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, NC 04/788, D-44780 Bochum, Germany c Institute of Technical Sciences of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Knez Mihailova 35/IV, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia b

h i g h l i g h t s < PANI and PbO2 electrode was synthesized from sulfuric acid solution. < Electrode was investigated for PANI/PbO2 rechargeable cell. < Electrochemical characteristic of the cell was determined.

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 27 April 2012 Received in revised form 21 May 2012 Accepted 5 June 2012 Available online 12 June 2012

Electrochemically synthesized polyaniline (PANI) and lead dioxide have been investigated as electrode materials for PANI/1.1 M H2SO4; 0.5 M (NH4)2SO4/PbO2 rechargeable cell. At constant current charge/ discharge of the cell, the average discharge potential of 1.1 V, specific capacity of 50 mA h g
1, specific energy of 55 W h kg
1, and self discharge rate of 2.2% per day have been obtained. Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Polyaniline Lead dioxide Rechargeable cell Sulfuric acid Ammonium sulfate

1. Introduction Replacement the Pb negative electrode with polyaniline (PANI) could avoid some of the problems with negative Pb electrode compared to classical Pb/PbO2 systems [1e3]. Additionally, both the specific energy and the specific power could increase significantly, owing to the much smaller mass of PANI electrode compared to classical Pb negative electrode. Moreover, lower concentration of sulfuric acid and decrease of lead content in such cell increase its ecological acceptability of such cell. In our previous work, electrochemical characteristics of polyaniline (PANI) and lead dioxide (PbO2) electrodes were investigated in 1.1 M H2SO4, aiming to characterize thin film PANI and PbO2 electrode for the potential application in aqueous based PANI/ H2SO4/PbO2 cell. [1]. Considering electrochemical behavior, for

different doping (oxidation) potential limits, and dedoping capacity of PANI electrode in 1.1 M H2SO4 it was suggested that doping potential should not exceed 0.4 V. The obtained specific electrode capacity of PANI electrode was 240 mAh g
1. This value was obtained considering only the electroactive mass (0.48 g) of the total deposited PANI mass (2.1 mg). So, the realistic value of the specific electrode capacity will be around 50 mA h g
1. By simulation of the charge/discharge characteristic, based on the half cell reactions, it was estimated that cell charging voltage would range between 1 and 1.9 V, while discharge would occur between 1.35 and w0.8 V, with most of the charge delivered at above 1 V. In the PANI/PbO2 system, the half cell reaction for charge and discharge can be given as [1]:

h   i charge PANIyþ SO4 2
þ 2nye % ðPANIÞn þ nySO4 2
y n

* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: þ381 11 3303 681. E-mail address: [email protected] (B.N. Grgur). 0378-7753/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2012.06.025

discharge

where y is doping degree, and:

(1)

B.N. Grgur et al. / Journal of Power Sources 217 (2012) 193e198

The overall reaction in the cell would be:

  i charge h nyPbSO4 þ 2nyH2 O þ PANIyþ SO4 2
% PbO2 y n discharge

þ ðPANIÞn þ 2nySO4

2


þ 4nyH

þ

(3)

It is very important to bear in mind that, according to given schema, during cell charging, PANI would be dedoped, on contrary, during cell discharge, PANI would be doped. It is interesting to note that from early work on PANI, Pb and PbO2 cells, by Kitani et al. [4], until now, practically no data on electroconducting polymers (ECP)/PbO2 cells were provided in the literature. There were attempts to improve characteristics of negative, Pb electrode, and prevent grids corrosion by PANI coatings, conducted by Martha et al. and Cheraghi et al. [5e7]. After the reexamining of the results in 1.1 M H2SO4, it was concluded that PbO2 electrode had poor cyclization characteristics and low coulombic efficiency in this electrolyte. In the present study we have used the novel electrolyte consisted of 1.1 M sulfuric acid and 0.5 M ammonium sulfate which has good buffer capacity and benefits to PbO2 electrode [8]. Hence, the aim of this work was investigation of electrochemically synthesized polyaniline and lead dioxide as the electrode materials for PANI/1.1 M H2SO4; 0.5 M (NH)4SO4/PbO2 cell. 2. Experimental Thin film PANI electrode was electrochemically synthesized from aqueous 1.1 M sulfuric acid solution with addition of 0.25 M aniline monomer (p.a. Merck, previously distilled in argon atmosphere). The polymerization was performed on graphite electrode (S ¼ 18 cm2), galvanostatically at constant current of 36 mA, during 5000 s, with the total polymerization charge of 50 mA h. After polymerization, PANI electrode was discharged with the current of 18 mA to test the film quality, washed with bidistilled water and transferred into another electrochemical cell for further investigations. The mass of PANI was determined by measuring the graphite electrode before and after electropolymerization, followed by overnight drying in vacuum. Lead dioxide electrode was prepared on pure lead (99.95%) (S ¼ 18 cm2), according to Plante_ formation process described in detail by Petersson et al. [9,10]. In order to remove lead oxides, naturally formed in the air, the lead sample was dipped in 8 M HNO3 for 30 s, and rinsed in bidistilled water prior to immersion in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 0.05 M KClO4 (p.a. Merck) for the formation process. The lead electrode was initially pretreated cathodically at constant current of 36 mA during 25 min, and then oxidized and reduced galvanostatically in the same electrolyte at current of 36 mA. After formation process, the remains of perchlorate ions were removed from the electrode by rinsing in bidistilled water. Finally, the PbO2 electrode was completely oxidized in pure 1.1 M H2SO4 with the current of 36 mA during 1500 s. For all further electrochemical experiments electrolyte consisted of 1.1 M sulfuric acid and 0.5 M ammonium sulfate was used. Prior to investigation, working electrode was mechanically polished firstly with fine emery papers (2/0, 3/0 and 4/0, respectively) and then with polishing alumina of 1 mm (Banner Scientific Ltd.) on the polishing cloths (Buehler Ltd.). After mechanical polishing the traces of the polishing alumina were removed from the electrode surface ultrasonically in ethanol during 5 min. Electrochemical synthesis and characterization of PANI and PbO2 electrodes were performed in a single compartment

electrochemical cell with total volume of 100 cm3. Platinum mesh (S ¼ 18 cm2) was used as counter, while saturated calomel electrode, SCE, (Er ¼ 0.243 V vs. SHE), served as reference electrode. For the characterization of the PANI/PbO2 cell the same electrochemical cell, with electrode gap of 1 cm, was used. The electrochemical measurements were carried out using PAR M273 potentiostat/galvanostat controlled by a computer, while voltage data was collected using ISO-Tech IDM 73 multimeter connected to the computer via RS 232. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Synthesis and characterization of PANI electrode Fig. 1 shows the chronopotentiometric curve of aniline polymerization on graphite electrode at constant current of 36 mA, during 5000 s with the polymerization charge, qpol, of 50 mA h from aqueous solution of 1.1 M H2SO4 and 0.25 M aniline (ANI) monomer. Aniline polymerization, in sulfuric acid solution, proceeded in the potential range between 0.7 and w0.52 V according to the equation:

  i h nðANIÞ þ nySO4 2
¼ PANIyþ SO4 2
þ 2nye

(4)

y n

The mass of PANI deposited on graphite electrode, determined in a separate experiment after drying in vacuum overnight, was 0.0989 g. The corresponding thickens of PANI electrode, assuming the density of sulfate doped PANI of 1.43 g cm
3, was estimated to w40 mm [11]. Insert of Fig. 1 shows cyclic voltammogram of the PANI electrode in 1.1 M sulfuric acid and 0.5 M ammonium sulfate, for the anodic potential limit of 0.5 V. Doping of the PANI electrode with sulfate anions started at w
0.1 V and proceeded up to the potential of 0.4 V. The well defined peak at 0.2 V, could be attributed to the changes of the doping degree of PANI between y >0 and 0.5. It should be noted that at low negative potentials leucoemeraldine form (y z 0) could exist as well [12]. Above potentials of w0.4 V the possibilities of formation the quinone-like degradation products is expected [1,13].

1.1 M H2SO4+0.25 M Aniline

0.8 0.6

40

0.4

30 -2

discharge

(2)

j / mA cm

charge

PbSO4 þ 2H2 O % PbO2 þ SO4 2
þ 4Hþ þ 2e

E / V (SCE)

194

0.2 0.0

3 mV/s

20 10 0 -10 -20 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6

-0.2

E / V (SCE)

-0.4 0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

t/s Fig. 1. Galvanostatic curves of aniline electropolymerization (I ¼ 36 mA) and discharge (I ¼ 18 mA). Insert: cyclic voltammogram of PANI electrode in 1.1 M sulfuric acid and 0.5 M ammonium sulfate.

B.N. Grgur et al. / Journal of Power Sources 217 (2012) 193e198

In the cathodic scan, reduction of degradation products and emeraldine salt to leucoemeraldine proceeded in the potential range between 0.5 and
0.3 V. Doping/dedoping curves of PANI electrode for different currents, and for doping potential limit of 0.4 V are shown in Fig. 2. Curves are characterized by constant increase/decrease of the potential which is connected to the changes of the emeraldine salt doping degree given by overall reaction:

110

Q / mA h

3.2. Synthesis and characterization of PbO2 electrode Fig. 5 shows galvanostatic synthesis of PbO2 on the oxide free lead electrode at constant current of 36 mA in aqueous solution of 0.5 M H2SO4 and 0.05 M KClO4, according to the similar procedure

5.0

90

0

200

36

400

600

27

800

22.5 mA

1000

1200

t/s Fig. 2. Doping/dedoping curves of PANI electrode for different currents, marked in figure.

80

100

doping dedoping

20

30

40

55

50

60

70

80

50 90 100

Fig. 3. Calculated values of PANI electrode capacity (Q) and specific capacity (qs) for different currents. Insert: Coulombic efficiency.

described by Petersson et al. [9,10]. Initially, the electrode was treated cathodically for 1500 s at 36 mA and then oxidized and reduced galvanostatically in the same electrolyte. After current was applied, during 10 s, potential had the similar value as the open circuit potential, w
0.52 V. This time could be assigned to the induction period, tind, of the PbSO4 formation. When most of the lead surface was converted into PbSO4, increase of the potential up to the w1.7 V followed by a plateau at w1.55 V, could be connected to transformation of PbSO4 into PbO2. After 700 s, electrode was discharged to w0.7 V, with the same current. According to Fig. 5 the total time, which could be connected to the formation of PbO2, was 700 s (or 7 mA h). Relying to Faradays law, and assuming formation process efficiency of 100% [9,10], the calculated mass and corresponding thickness of the PbO2 electrode, were 31 mg and 1.85 mm respectively. Charge/discharge curves of PbO2 electrode, for different currents, in 1.1 M sulfuric acid and 0.5 M ammonium sulfate are shown in Fig. 6. Charge of the electrode started at 1.4 or 1.5 V, depending on applied current, followed by slow increase of the potential. After that period of time, faster increase of the potential could be connected to oxidation of small amounts of PbSO4

PANI 1.1 M H2SO4+0.5 M (NH4)2SO4 I = 36 mA

0.3 0.2 th

th

11 , 15 and 19 cyclus Ec = 0.45 V

0.1 0.0

th

-0.1 st

th

1 , 10 and 20 cyclus Ec = 0.35 V

-0.3

70 60 50 45

60

60

-0.2

-0.4

40

I / mA

E / V (SCE)

E / V (SCE)

-0.2

65 20

I / mA

0.4

0.0

95

6.0

0.5

PANI 1.1 M H2SO4 + 0.5 M (NH4)2SO4

100

6.5

5.5

0.4

0.2

70

-1

Fig. 3 shows calculated values of doping/dedoping electrode capacity and specific capacity for different currents. As it can be seen electrode capacity was dependent on the applied current, and decreased from 7 (6.5) to 5.5 mA h, or from 70 (65) to 55 mA h g
1 with increasing the current. Decrease in the electrode capacity with increasing of the current, is connected with slow diffusion of sulfate anions through polymer film. Coulombic efficiency, shown in the insert of Fig. 3, for the current higher than 30 mA was w100%, while for the current lower than 30 mA, was higher than 100% (103e108%). This unusual results, as pointed out in our previous paper, could be explained by the possibilities of hydrogen evolution reaction (Er ¼
0.24 V) or even more probably by formation of protonated leucoemeraldine at low current and negative potentials [1]. Such additional charge was, after current interruption, quickly discharged, at the PANI electrode open circuit potentials of
0.05 V and was not observed during charge. As pointed out, the degradation of PANI could occur above w0.4 V. So, behavior of PANI electrode during cyclization, at a constant current of 36 mA for charging potential limits of 0.35 and 0.45 V, was investigated, and shown in Fig. 4. As it can be seen in Fig. 4, during first ten cycles for charging with potential limit of 0.35 V, discharge time remained constant. Charging of the electrode to the potential of 0.45 V, during nine cycles, provoked some small decrease of the discharge times, inducing the additional decrease of the discharge time for potential limits of 0.35 V during twentieth cycle. Hence, it could be suggested that charging potential limits should not exceed 0.4 V.

105

Qd/Qc

7.0

(5)

y n

dedoping

75

7.5

qs / mA h g

  i doping h ½PANIn þ nySO4 2
% PANIyþ SO4 2
þ 2nye

195

-0.4

th

-0.5 0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

t/s Fig. 4. Potential-current curves of PANI electrode during cyclization at a constant current of 36 mA for charging potential limits of 0.35 and 0.45 V.

196

B.N. Grgur et al. / Journal of Power Sources 217 (2012) 193e198

2.0

10 0.5 M H2SO4+ 0.05 M KClO4 I = 36 mA 2 S(Pb) = 18 cm

1.5

9

PbO2 1.1 M H2SO4+ 0.5 M (NH4)2SO4

8

0.0 reduction

oxidation tind

-0.5

discharge

7 85

6

charge discharge

-1.0 -1.5

80

Qd / Qc

0.5

Q / mA h

E / V (SCE)

1.0

75

5 0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

70

20

3000

30 40 I / mA

t/s 4 15

Fig. 5. Dependence of potential on time during galvanostatic formation of PbO2 electrode.

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

50

I / mA remains, and oxygen evolution. Discharge of the PbO2 occurred via one well defined potential plateau of 1.27  0.01 V. From Fig. 6 the capacities of charge/discharge processes were calculated and shown in Fig. 7. Charge capacity increased nonlinearly from 8.5 to 9.7 mA h with increasing current. On contrary, discharge capacity of w7 mA h was practically independent on applied current. Coulombic efficiency of charge/discharge, shown in the insert of Fig. 6, for the current lower than 30 mA, ranged from 81 to 82.5%, while for the current higher than 30, decreased from 82 to 73%. During the cyclization of PbO2 electrode (Fig. 8), small decrease of charging and increase of discharging potentials, and practically constant capacity were observed. Decrease of the peak during cyclization, was also observed for the first 100 s of the charging process, and could be connected to oxidation of PbSO4 phase. 3.3. Electrochemical characteristic of PANI/PbO2 cell

Fig. 7. Dependence of charge/discharge capacity of PbO2 electrode for different current. Insert: Coulombic efficiency of charge/discharge.

electrode at current 22.5 mA (j ¼ 1.25 mA cm
2) and 27.5 mA (j ¼ 1.53 mA cm
2), and for PANI electrode of 22.5 mA (j ¼ 1.25 mA cm
2) are shown. As it can be seen, charge/discharge times, were practically equal for the PbO2 current of 27.5 mA and 22.5 mA for the PANI electrode. To avoid this problem we reduced the surface area of PbO2 electrode to 14.7 cm2. Now, for the overall cell current of 22.5 mA, current density for PbO2 electrode was 1.53 mA cm
2, and for PANI electrode 1.25 mA cm
2. With such surface reduced PbO2 electrode, the charge/discharge characteristics of the complete cell, during ten cycles with current of 22.5 mA, were investigated and shown in Fig. 10. Charging of the cell started at w0.85 V, followed by voltage increase up to 1.5 V. The shoulder in the potential range of 1.5e1.8 V could be associated to behavior of PbO2 electrode, and sharp increase of the voltage above

Comparing the results for PANI and PbO2 electrode it can bee concluded that disbalance in the charge/discharge time, for the same current existed. In Fig. 9 charge/discharge curves for PbO2

1.7 1.6

1.8 45 mA

37.5 mA 30 mA 27.5 mA

22.5 mA 18 mA

1.4

E / V (SCE)

PbO2 1.1 M H2SO4+ 0.5 M (NH4)2SO4

1.6

E / V (SCE)

PbO2 1.1 M H2SO4+ 0.5 M (NH4)2SO4

1.5

1

1.4

10

st

th

1.3

10

1.2

1

th

th

I = 27.5 mA

1.2

1.1 0

200

400

600

800

1000 1200 1400 1600 1800

t/s Fig. 6. Charge/discharge curve of PbO2 electrode for different currents, marked in figure.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

t/s Fig. 8. Potential-current curves of PbO2 electrode during cyclization at a constant current of 27.5 mA.

B.N. Grgur et al. / Journal of Power Sources 217 (2012) 193e198 st

2.4

1.5

2.0 1.8

0.9

0.3

1.6

U/V

0.6

PbO2 I = 27.5 mA

Ucharge

Udischarge

1.4 1.2 st

1 discharge

1.0 0.8

0.0

discharge after five days

0.6

PANI I = 22.5 mA

-0.3

0.4 0.2

-0.6

0.0

0

200

400

600

0

800 1000 1200 1400

200

400

Fig. 9. Comparison of charge/discharge curves for PbO2 and PANI electrode.

1.8 V to PANI electrode. Open circuit voltage of charged cell was 1.4 V. Discharge of the cell occurred in the potential range of 1.4 to 0.8 V, followed by the sharp decrease of the voltage, which can be connected to behavior of PbO2 electrode. Average discharge voltage was w1.1 V, comparable to those of cadmium/nickel oxide and metal hydride/nickel oxide batteries. It should be noted that discharge of the cell below 0.4 V could affect PANI electrode, due to the possibilities of degradation. Decrease of the charge/discharge times during cyclization was most probably connected to some electrode capacity disbalance, rather than active mass degradation. Self discharge rate was investigated after five days, and results are shown in Fig. 11. After five days, decrease of the open circuit potential from 1.4 V to 1.32 V, and discharge time of 11% were observed, giving self discharge rate of 2.2% per day. The reasons of such high self discharge rate were probably connected to both electrodes. Thin film PbO2 was probably discharged due to the presence of the organic impurities form PANI electrode. Self discharge of PANI electrode, as proposed by Rahmanifar et al. [14],

1.1 M H2SO4 + 0.5 M (NH4)2SO4 I = 22.5 mA

2.2

10

2

2.0

5

1200

h   i h   i self
discharge PANI SO4 2
þ nHQ þ 2ne ! PANI SO4 2
4 n

th

1

2.4

1.1 M H2SO4 +0.5 M (NH4)2SO4 I = 22.5 mA

2.0 1.8

2

S(PANI) = 18 cm 2 S(PbO2) = 14.7 cm

1.6

U/V U0

(6)

Based on the above given redox reaction, HQ is formed under the conditions at which PANI existed in the pernigraniline form, and then the resulting HQ reacted with the remaining pernigraniline and converted it to the emeraldine conductive form. This could be the main cause of the reduced open circuit potential and the capacity. Knowing the masses of PANI (0.0989 g) and PbO2 (25.4 mg, initial mass of PbO2 reduced for 18%) it was possible to draw the diagram of charge/discharge over specific capacity of the cell. As it

st

1.4

2 n

þnQ þ 2nSO4 2


th

1.6 1.2

1000

occurred as a consequence of the reaction of soluble hydroquinone (HQ) like species with pernigraniline salt form of PANI, giving protonated emeraldine, via simplified reaction:

S(PANI) = 18 cm -2 S(PbO2) = 14.7 cm

1.8

800

Fig. 11. Determination of the self discharge rate of PANI/PbO2 cell.

2.2

2.4

600

t/s

t/s

U/V

nd

1 and 2 charge

I = 22.5 mA

2.2

I = 22.5 mA 1.2

E / V (SCE)

197

1.4 1.2 1.0

1.0 0.8

0.8

0.6

0.6

0.4

0.4

0.2

0

0.0 0

200

400

600

800 1000 1200 1400

t/s Fig. 10. Charge/discharge curves of PANI/PbO2 cell during cyclization.

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

-1

qs / mA h g

Fig. 12. Dependence of charge/discharge voltage on specific capacity of the PANI/PbO2 cell.

198

B.N. Grgur et al. / Journal of Power Sources 217 (2012) 193e198

can be seen in Fig. 12 available specific discharge capacity was 50 mA h g
1 of active electrode mass, with active mass utilization of 83%. For the average discharge voltage of 1.1 V, specific discharge energy of 55 W h kg
1 was calculated. 4. Conclusions Polyaniline and lead dioxide electrode were successfully synthesized from sulfuric acid based solutions. Charge/discharge characteristic of the separate electrodes was investigated in 1.1 M sulfuric acid and 0.5 M ammonium sulfate electrolyte. Based on this results, electrodes were balanced and characteristics of polyaniline/ lead dioxide cell were investigated. At the charge/discharge current of 22.5 mA the average discharge potential of 1.1 V, specific capacity of 50 mA h g
1, specific energy of 55 W h kg
1, and self discharge rate of 2.2% per day were obtained. High self discharge rate was connected to reaction of soluble hydroquinone like species formed during the polyaniline charging. Acknowledgment The work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia under the research project:

“Electrochemical synthesis and characterization of nanostructured functional materials for application in new technologies” (No. 172046). References [1] B.N. Grgur, V. Risti c, M.M. Gvozdenovi c, M.D. Maksimovi c, B.Z. Jugovi c, J. Power Sources 180 (2008) 635e640. [2] P. Ruetschi, J. Power Sources 127 (2004) 33e44. [3] B. Culpin, D.A.J. Rand, J. Power Sources 36 (1991) 415e438. [4] A. Kitani, M. Kaya, K. Sasaki, J. Electrochem. Soc. 133 (6) (1986) 1069e1073. [5] S.K. Martha, B. Hariprakash, S.A. Gaffoor, A.K. Shukla, J. Appl. Electrochem. 36 (2006) 711e722. [6] S.K. Martha, B. Hariprakash, S.A. Gaffoor, D.C. Trivedi, A.K. Shukla, J. Chem. Sci. 118 (1) (2006) 93e98. [7] B. Cheraghi, A.R. Fakhari, S. Borhani, A.A. Entezami, J. Electroanal. Chem. 626 (2009) 116e122. [8] D.B. Matthews, M.A. Habib, S.P.S. Badwal, Aust. J. Chem. 34 (1981) 247e269. [9] I. Petersson, B. Berghult, E. Ahlberg, J. Power Sources 74 (1998) 68e76. [10] I. Petersson, E. Ahlberg, B. Berghult, J. Power Sources 76 (1998) 98e105. [11] J. Stejskal, I. Sapurina, M. Trchova, J. Prokes, I. Krivka, E. Tobolkova, Macromolecules 31 (1998) 2218e2222. [12] N. Gospodinova, L. Terlemezyan, Prog. Polym. Sci. 23 (1998) 1443e1484. [13] M. Gao, G. Zhang, G. Zhang, X. Wang, S. Wang, Y. Yang, Polym. Degrad. Stab. 96 (2011) 1799e1804. [14] M.S. Rahmanifar, M.F. Mousavi, M. Shamsipur, H. Heli, Synth. Met. 155 (2005) 480e484.